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Old Laptop
Peter36
Posts: 20
Hi All.Does anyone still use an old laptop or desktop? Two days ago a notice appeared from my browser firefox telling me that from Sept 17 they & Microsoft will cease to support windows Vista.Apparently,unsupported systems receive no security,have known exploits & can be dangerous to use.my laptop is still working perfectly but is 8 years old! It appears I need to replace the software with Windows 10,or replace the laptop.Is anyone else faced with replacing their software through no fault of their own other than having the cheek to carry on using old technology?
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In a similar position Peter but will continue to use my laptop while it's ok. I was notified, as you were, about one year ago. Laptop is too old for Windows 10.
Thanks for that info,Joyce.Can you or anyone else tell me why one can't install Windows 10 on old laptops.Just by chance I was looking through an April 2016 Gardeners' World & there was an add by Which? magazine about a booklet about how to install Windows 10 when you already have Windows Vista or Windows XP which is even older software,so it must have been possible a year ago? I am going to seek further information about this.
From the Microsoft site the minimum spec to run Win 10 is -
Processor:1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC
RAM:1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
Hard disk space:16 GB for 32-bit OS 20 GB for 64-bit
OSGraphics card:DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
Display:800x600
That's minimum spec. You'll expect your laptop to respond quickly which would require a better spec than the above.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Get yourself protection form a company such as Malwarebytes - if they'll support you. Doesn't cost much and keeps you safe from invaders. Make sure also that you have all your data, photos, documents etc backed up onto an external disk drive or a series of large USB keys.
This PC is newish and came with Windows 10 but OH's is older and he's had 10 thrust on him and it has been dreadful. Now he understands why I insisted on ditching my old PC for a new one a couple of years ago. He gave up trying to do the fixes on his - lots of forums with advice and procedures online - and bought himself a Chrome book which meets his needs now he no longer runs a golf club and its website. May not be enough for you but a lot cheaper than a new PC.
I've read & thank you for the post by Doghouse Riley as well.To be honest,I only use my laptop to carry out very basic tasks so I don't really need a super duper new one.I meant to end my post with the comment that if I find out what to do to keep using an older laptop with the appropriate softwear,I will post this information which might assist others in the same position.I think it might all depend on the cost of new software compared to the cost of a new laptop.
Thanks everyone whose posted.I'm such a slow typer more views have appeared meantime.Thanks again.
All the notice from Microsoft means is that it won't be issuing any more updates to the operating system. Vista isn't suddenly going to become any more vulnerable than it already is, assuming you have up to date anti virus software running.
Hi Peter
It depends what you do with the computer that determines whether or not you need to worry about this.
I have an ancient laptop which is running XP.
I only keep it because I have some family tree software which won't run on my main computer. I don't use it for accessing the internet at all (not even getting or sending emails) - so I have no worries at all about security. I don't even have anti virus software installed.
If you do online banking or buy a lot of stuff online the very least you should have is very good anti virus software installed (and kept bang up to date) - but really you would be better off with a newer operating system. Some banks etc now encourage you to download their own anti virus software as additional security - which you may not be able to do with an older operating system.
If you don't use the internet for financial matters and don't share sensitive data on the internet you would probably be ok with good anti-virus software as KT53 suggests. Many people just use the internet for emails, skype and browsing the internet. That's fine. So long as you're not putting credit card or bank details in you probably won't come to much harm.
Hope that's reassuring